Also On this Page:
Sources of Replacement Braces
MagSabbers Recommendations On Machine Shops
Braces For The Sabres An Others of the V-4 Family
Dave Dodge On The Fork Brace

Background:
The stock fork braces on the Magnas and Sabres are inadequate, and can be very dangerous if left alone.   A combination of reasons lead to fork brace failure.  The forks on both the Magna and the Sabre are relatively long.  This adds some stress to the brace area.  The TRAC system allows different 'tensions' or damping on each fork, depending on setting and braking.  In addition, the stock brace  is a thin piece of cast aluminum, and has cast marks right at the high stress points. The tendency of the brace to crack right along the casting lines illustrates this point.  There have been several disasters due to the failure of the brace.  See the Suspension Disaster Page for details on a few.     The photo to the left shows a cracked brace.  This was the result of the suspension disaster.  All four bolts were still in the fork, holding in what was left of the brace.   It is a surprise to see what a piece of junk it really is!  The  photo to the right shows a 'braced' brace.

What You Can Do About It
Once the brace starts to crack, you can choose to replace it with a stock one. This does not get rid of the problem, it just solves it temporarily. A new aftermarket brace can be costly. With the above in mind, I fabricated my own "brace for the brace" which is the subject of this section. I made the brace starting with a piece of T6061 aluminum, but any high grade forged type aluminum will be good. The machinist will know what you are talking about. The original one I made was  out of 3/8" stock. I just got the old brace, traced it on a piece of thick paper, holes and all, and gave it to the machine shop guy. He said that was OK, but since I was planning to keep the old piece anyway (and even if I wasn't) to give him the piece. Given the old brace, they can machine something that fits right underneath. Once it is finished, just bolt the piece of aluminum in place, it may or may not look good, but it will be mechanically superior. If the old brace is not cracked too badly, you can just bolt it on top of the new brace, crack and all, since the new brace will provide the support. (See Below)
On mine, I have the T6061 brace, and on top I have the stock brace. You can't even tell its been modified from stock unless you look really close. If you don't have a machine shop available (or cheap) you can just cut a piece of aluminum with a Sabre-saw, and drill the four holes, using the cut piece of paper as a template. Remember, it doesn't have to look too good, it will fit under the stock brace anyway, and will be all but invisible. The holes don't have to be perfect, either, if you are keeping the stock brace with the new one. The holes from the stock brace will provide the alignment.   The original 3/8" thick aluminum slab is overkill.   Newer versions I have fabricated have been using 3/16" or 1/8" stock.  Remember, whatever thickness 'brace for the brace' you use, you may need to buy new bolts.  A good supplier of stainless steel bolts and whatever other hardware you might desire is McMaster-Carr.

The Final Result:      

Point and Counter Point
Dave M (V65 Society) writes his observations on the Magna front end:
I recently jacked up the front end of my Magna, a did a little test. With the front wheel off the ground, I grabbed the bottom edge of the front wheel, and pulled on it sideways. While doing so, I carefully watched both fork tubes. I noticed that when pulling the wheel sideways, one slider slid into the fork tube a tiny amount, but the other one did not move. This shows that even under the very light pressure of me pulling the tire sideways with one hand, there is enough flex to allow one fork to move and the other stay put. I'm sure that under heavy strain (hard potholes, heavy cornering) there must be a lot more flex... perhaps the reason that stock fork braces break all the time.

Another SabMagger Writes:
My stock brace is still in one piece... I inspected it very carefully. But I'm sure it will break eventually. However, my thoughts are as follows.... if there is so much flex in the front, perhaps a stronger fork brace is not the answer. I wonder if it's possible that a strong fork brace might cause excessive stress to the area of the fork tube that the brace is bolted to, possibly causing a fracture there. ??? Not likely, but just a thought. There must be a reason Honda designed the stock brace to be so weak. I suspect that perhaps they wanted it to flex. Regardless, we know that they often break, and who the heck wants to be replacing it every now and then.... which is why that "under brace" you came up with is specifically useful.
Response:
This is a good question.  Why did Honda design such a weak brace?  I have no answer for that, except that it's impossible to predict everything that can go wrong with a motorcycle.  Remember, in the early 80's, these bikes were 'state of the art' and technically superior to just about every bike on the market.   Honda didn't skimp on most things, as they do today with the current selection of cruisers.  Unfortunately, the fork brace is a weak link in the suspension, and stiffening it up can only help.  Since the 'spreading of the fork brace word' literally hundreds of SabMaggers have added braces to their machines, and not one has a horror story to tell.  As for those without braces, read the 'suspension horror story' section.  These were not isolated incidents.

Frequently Asked Questions and Other Info
From what I'm reading above, I expect the Magna to spontaneously combust if I don't put on a fork brace brace.   What gives?
I am just pointing out a possible design flaw, and a way to improve it.   This is a potentially dangerous condition.  Many people have gone tens of thousands of miles with no troubles at all.   I'm not saying to park the bike if you don't have a brace, or have a cracked one.   Statistically, the percentages of front end failure vs. miles ridden is low, but if it happens to you, it is 100% for your case.  Literally hundreds of V65 riders have re-enforced their braces over the past 5 years, and I attribute the (recent)  low incident of front end failures to this fact.

Honda Claims that the fork brace is not a stressed member of the front suspension.  If so, why should I replace or strengthen it?
If the fork brace was not under stress, it would not develop STRESS CRACKS!

I have rode 1000's of miles with a cracked brace and nothing happened.  Doesn't  this prove that the brace does not need re-enforcement?
Sorry, but no.   This statement is the equivalent of saying "Well, I've traveled thousands of miles on worn tires, even with the cords showing, and nothing happened.  Why should I buy new tires when I'm only going to use the bike for short trips?  Or better yet, I have ridden thousands of miles without a helmet and I haven't needed it yet!  Why should I wear one?  Well, for the same reason you should re-enforce your brace.  Relatively cheap insurance in case something does happen, or in this case to prevent something from happening.

Look at modern bikes like the VFR. No brace at all.  Why would I need one?
This is an apples and oranges comparison.  Even comparing the Magna to the Sabre is sort of unjustified.  The Magna has a very long fork, and a long rake/trail, characteristic of a cruiser.  Notice the travel and angle of the forks on the VFR and Sabre.  Completely different, but who's to say each wouldn't benefit from the brace.

Am I selling braces?
Sorry, but no!  At one time a bunch of us chipped in to have some machined, but that was a while ago.

How much the mod cost, including machine shop fees?
This is a tough question.  Read on down the FAQ to find some alternatives.  I had a friend machine one at his machine shop, so it didn't cost me anything.  He agreed to make a few more for some SabMaggers for $15 each as a favor to me.  I distributed about 25 of them to the needy.

How about using 1/8" Stainless instead of Aluminum?
No problem.  The idea is to get a stiff piece of forged metal as a brace instead of the weak cast part.  Steel is a lot harder to machine, however, and weighs more.

What thickness should I use?
As stated above, 3/8" is too thick.  A good thickness is 1/8" or 3/16"

Can I use the stock bolts?
Sometimes.  It depends on the tolerance of the brace and the machined piece.   The size of the stock bolt is 8mm X 1.25 X 16mm long.  Usually a 20mm long bolt will suffice, and you can even use a 25mm in some cases.  A good source of these bolts is McMaster-Carr.  I use the 316 stainless steel allen head bolts everywhere!  See the bolt page (soon to come) for further details!

How do I remove the brace?
It is connected by four allen head bolts, which are on top.  They are covered by plastic 'inserts' over the holes of the bolts.  carefully remove the plastic inserts, and then remove the bolts. It is OK to do this without disconnecting anything else. It's a good idea to have a torque wrench to reassemble at the correct torque, but not absolutely necessary.

Sources of Replacement Braces

Superbrace: 800 322 4783.   Estimated cost: $95.

Wing Things Company Estimated cost: $78.

SabMaggers Recommendations On Machine Shops

It cost $35 to fabricate out of ¼" aluminum. The machinist also heli-arc'ed my stock brace, and it hosed the anodized coating, so I sanded it down to raw aluminum. . I swear, that change added much stability-the thing feels like a rock now (it already had a crack that separated one of the bolts-just one crack away from suspension disaster). Before, I used have to "fight" the front end in a subtle way that I was unaware of until it was fixed! Now, it's relaxing. No wobble, even on deceleration I can let the handlebars free. It's awesome.

Fork Brace: I found a great machinist here in phoenix that will make new fork braces for the v65 for $30. he made one for me and it works great. mounts under my stock one and is practically invisible. looks good enough to run by itself if you want.
Jerry in Phoenix @602-890-0951

The article on the fork brace scared me into finding a local machinist to make a reinforcing plate to mount under the stock brace. it came out great, cost me only $30 total, and I would be glad to give you his name and number. he said he would readily make more for others. He does good work, quickly. Thanks again, Mark Hirshbeel mhirshbeel@aol.com

Terry Tekovec   (tek@ncweb.com) , who owns a shop that does computer controlled machining (up in Northeast Ohio). Dale says that after reading your website  about the cracked brace he went to Terry and got his new one through him. He's charging $50 according to Dale.

Braces For The Sabres An Others of the V-4 Family
The brace for the Sabre is obviously different than that of the Magna.  The Sabre brace is 'multi-leveled, and has contours for the fender.  Therefore a 'flat' piece of machined stock will not fit.  The Sabre brace suffers from the same weaknesses as the magna, although not as much due to the shorter travel and milder rake.   It should still be replaced or reinforced to assure structural integrity of the front end.  They are for sale at Superbrace, and some MagSabbers have fabricated their own.  To the right is a brace that Katherine Becker fabricated out of an old Interceptor brace.  Details will follow!

Dave Dodge On The Fork Brace
David Dodge wrote:
The fork brace is a major structural component since the front forks dampen at different rates. Use a fork brace, make sure it is not broken, and if you need to replace the stock one, replace with a quality aftermarket unit.

Dick M. wrote: The fork brace obviously is designed to take shear stress caused by the forks sliders trying to twist. The thin brace lies in a plane perpendicular to the forks. It is not designed to keep the fork sliders moving in tandem.

David Dodge wrote:
Gee, all I have to go by is my work with Honda road race dept. back in '82 when we built my shortened front-end for the Sabre drag bike. On my first test runs, slowing down from 130 MPH the bike would wander to the right about 10 feet. This was with a steering damper, shortened forks and no-dive in tact. On their testing equipment we did compression and rebound testing to find that the forks were not twisting, the wheel was cocking. The ultimate fix for my application was to remove the no-dive unit, and install two of the same dampening rods in both sides. Think about it. Face the bike: straddle the front wheel, hold on to the handle bars, and try to twist the forks. This twisting is what the fork brace is designed to stop.

I don't just think, I test. In reality, the design of the '82 V45 was the best OEM fork brace as it is solid and has more material around the mounting boss. When the front-end (w/brace) and triple clamps are properly mounted and torqued, twisting is not a problem. If you don't have a fork brace, the only thing stopping this movement is the triple clamps, and the front wheel axle. And the two triple clamps do not act together because they can rotate relative to each other around the bearing stem. It's not much resistance.

This would be true, that's why ALL racing motorcycles use fork braces. I'm only guessing but I think the fork brace design was stressed out and released for tooling before they added the TRAC anti-dive compression damping. Remember that the problem here is that only the V65 Magna and Sabre break the OEM fork brace. And if you look at it you will see that it is weak at the mounting areas. IMO :-) twisting is not breaking them, it is a stress applied on a horizontal plane, which is caused by uneven fork compression.